Interesting and Scenic Routes

[SprinterMan]

Sorry if this is in the wrong forum. I go to university in Bangor (Gwynedd) and in University holidays I go back to where I live in Sudbury (Suffolk). I like to go unusual and scenic routes. I was wondering if anyone had any suggestions of scenic or unusual routes I could take. (Preferably doable for less than £30 on advance tickets with a 16-25 railcard and possible in one day).

I have already done (in either or both directions):
Bangor - Crewe - London - Sudbury (Standard Route)
Bangor - Warrington Bank Quay - London - Sudbury
Bangor - Shrewsbury - Birmingham - Coventry - London - Sudbury
Bangor - Shrewsbury - Newport - Swindon - London - Sudbury
Bangor - Crewe - Nuneaton - Banbury - London - Sudbury (Blockade Buster)

I am looking at doing either:
Bangor - Shrewsbury - Newport - Taunton - Westbury - London - Sudbury
Bangor - Shrewsbury - Newport - Bath - Westbury - London - Sudbury

Of these two, which would be the more scenic? Is Newport to Westbury more scenic via Taunton or via Trowbridge?

If anyone has any other routes from Bangor to either Sudbury or Bury St. Edmunds that are very scenic and doable for under £30 w/ 16-25 RC and taking less than a day I would love to hear them. Please feel free to move this to a more suitable sub-forum if you think it is appropriate mods

Adam

 

[Neilandrewhall]

I would have to recommend the first route via Taunton, as I have traveled down that way quite frequently in the past and it is very scenic and pretty where as I thought bath was more industrialized, I was going to mention were you thinking of using the sleeper and having a look around places like Taunton.?

 

[SprinterMan]

I would have to recommend the first route via Taunton, as I have traveled down that way quite frequently in the past and it is very scenic and pretty where as I thought bath was more industrialized, I was going to mention were you thinking of using the sleeper and having a look around places like Taunton.?

Yeah, I have done the Berks & Hants route before and I love it
No, I don't wanna stay at any of these places, I need to do it in a day. Will add that to the OP. Thanks

Adam

 

[Neilandrewhall]

Yeah, I have done the Berks & Hants route before and I love it
No, I don't wanna stay at any of these places, I need to do it in a day. Will add that to the OP. Thanks

Adam

If you were to go all the way from Newport-Taunton would you do this on the 150?

 

[SprinterMan]

If you were to go all the way from Newport-Taunton would you do this on the 150?

Yeah :P
Would be doing (Saturday):
0902 Bangor to Newport
1315 Newport to Taunton
1519 Taunton to London Paddington

Welcome to the forum by the way

Adam

 

[steamdrivenand]

Your routes seem very southern (not Southern) centric.

Is there a particular reason that you've not ventured over midland or northern routes to get to your eastern retreat? Perhaps they're considered non-scenic/uninteresting, something I'd dispute.

Our son used to travel from Cambridge to Crewe and NRs insistence on a via London route got boring and he used Ely/Peterborough/New St as an alternative and there must be others. Sheffield and Manchester should work and with your record you could try for Newcastle/Carlisle/Liverpool.

Good Luck

 

[Welshman]

May I make the suggestion of starting on a bus?

Were you to board the 0915 Bangor to Porthmadog [Service T2 Lloyd's/Express Motors], you could then have a leisurely lunch and exploration of Porthmadog before catching the 1402 ATW down the scenic Cambrian Coast to Machynlleth, continuing to Birmingham via Mid Wales, then Euston and on to Sudbury, arriving 2221.

The whole Cambrian Coast line from Pwhelli to Dovey Junction is particularly splendid, and cheap advance fares seem to be available Porthmadog-Sudbury [£12.15p with Card in mid-February].

 

[D6975]

I was going to suggest via Porthmadog, but Welshman just beat me to it. (you could even do the Ffestiniog if you were feeling flush)
How about;
Bangor - Warrington - Preston - Blackburn - Leeds - KX - Sudbury
The Copy Pit route is a very pleasant journey.

 

[SprinterMan]

Your routes seem very southern (not Southern) centric.

Is there a particular reason that you've not ventured over midland or northern routes to get to your eastern retreat? Perhaps they're considered non-scenic/uninteresting, something I'd dispute.

Our son used to travel from Cambridge to Crewe and NRs insistence on a via London route got boring and he used Ely/Peterborough/New St as an alternative and there must be others. Sheffield and Manchester should work and with your record you could try for Newcastle/Carlisle/Liverpool.

Good Luck

My routes seem to be Southern-centric as opposed to Northern-centric purely because it is a lot easier to find cheap tickets for the more Southern-centric routes, and Sudbury is a pig to access from the North :P

Here are some Northern routes I am looking at :
Bangor - Warrington - Manchester - Stoke-on-Tent - London - Sudbury
Bangor - Warrington - Manchester - Leeds - Peterborough - Bury St. Edmunds
Bangor - Warrington - Manchester - Sheffield - Peterborough - Bury St. Edmunds
Bangor - Warrington - Manchester - Sheffield - Peterborough - Bury St. Edmunds

May I make the suggestion of starting on a bus?

Were you to board the 0915 Bangor to Porthmadog [Service T2 Lloyd's/Express Motors], you could then have a leisurely lunch and exploration of Porthmadog before catching the 1402 ATW down the scenic Cambrian Coast to Machynlleth, continuing to Birmingham via Mid Wales, then Euston and on to Sudbury, arriving 2221.

The whole Cambrian Coast line from Pwhelli to Dovey Junction is particularly splendid, and cheap advance fares seem to be available Porthmadog-Sudbury [£12.15p with Card in mid-February].

I have very nearly done this before, the only thing that stopped me was that I don't like taking suitcases on buses, it's too much hassle. Good suggestion though, thanks

I was going to suggest via Porthmadog, but Welshman just beat me to it. (you could even do the Ffestiniog if you were feeling flush)
How about;
Bangor - Warrington - Preston - Blackburn - Leeds - KX - Sudbury
The Copy Pit route is a very pleasant journey.

Never thought of that one, will have to investigate tickets, thanks!

Adam

 

[steamdrivenand]

I was going to suggest via Porthmadog, but Welshman just beat me to it. (you could even do the Ffestiniog if you were feeling flush)

How about getting in some practice during term time.

Caernarvon/Porthmadoc/Ffestinniog/Conway/Bangor or vice versa

 

[SprinterMan]

How about getting in some practice during term time.

Caernarvon/Porthmadoc/Ffestinniog/Conway/Bangor or vice versa

Did Bangor - Chester - Shrewsbury - Macynlleth - Barmouth and return with a friend last year, was very good

Adam

 

[30907]

No idea about fares, but via Hereford-Worcester-Oxford would be a pleasant journey, especially through the Malverns. Ditto via Gloucester and Swindon.

 

[SprinterMan]

Wow, found a really good route :P

0601 Bangor to Chester
0740 Chester to Warrington Bank Quay
0812 Warrington Bank Quay to Lancaster
0903 Lancaster to Carlisle
1249 Carlisle to London Euston
and then whatever connects with it to Sudbury.

I have found advance tickets for this route for £20! I love the Lune gorge, and I have not done the Cumbrian Coast before, but I have a book about it and it looks really scenic. May have to book this :P Is 10mins long enough to change at Carlisle, or should I go for an hour later?

No idea about fares, but via Hereford-Worcester-Oxford would be a pleasant journey, especially through the Malverns. Ditto via Gloucester and Swindon.

Both very good suggestions, I have done Hereford - Wourcester and Stroud - Swindon before and they are both very lovely routes. Thanks very much

 

[30907]

10mins at Carlisle is officially a connection and therefore even with split Advances you should be covered if you miss the connection. Even better if the split is somewhere like Maryport I suppose.
On the other hand, an hour on Carlisle is never wasted....

 

[Welshman]

If you're prepared to divert as far as Carlisle, why not return from there on the Settle & Carlisle to Leeds, then via EC main line to London Kings Cross, etc?

I haven't priced this, and it may be outside your £20 limit with advance tickets, but the S&C is a splendidly scenic line, and if you haven't already covered it you have a treat in store.

 

[SprinterMan]

10mins at Carlisle is officially a connection and therefore even with split Advances you should be covered if you miss the connection. Even better if the split is somewhere like Maryport I suppose.
On the other hand, an hour on Carlisle is never wasted....

Yeah, I'm gonna stay at Carlisle for an hour because I'm going to want to stretch my legs for a bit after 4 hours on a 156 :P
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

If you're prepared to divert as far as Carlisle, why not return from there on the Settle & Carlisle to Leeds, then via EC main line to London Kings Cross, etc?

I haven't priced this, and it may be outside your £20 limit with advance tickets, but the S&C is a splendidly scenic line, and if you haven't already covered it you have a treat in store.

I did look at this, but the price is much more than via the Lune Gorge, which is probably my favorite stretch of line in the country (so far :P)

Adam

 

[SovietGaz]

I'm from Bury St Edmunds, now living in Colwyn Bay. Been meaning to get back to Suffolk and see the place for the first time since 2000.

Which of these routes is your preferred/cheapest/most scenic? Looking at taking a long weekend to go there and back so time isn't really a major factor.

Was thinking Colwyn Bay - Birmingham NS - Chiltern Line - London Marylebone - Bury St Edmunds (via a Class 90 hauled service changing at Ipswich)

Sorry to go off topic but I had no idea the answer to a long mulled thought was sat right here!
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
Was thinking of breaking the travel with a shopping break in Birmingham as I walked from New Street to Moore Street.

 

[Searle]

How about Bangor - Chester - Manchester Piccadilly - Norwich - Sudbury? or you could bail at Ely and go to Bury St Edmunds from there? Depends if you fancy spending 4 and a half hours on a 158

 

[SprinterMan]

I'm from Bury St Edmunds, now living in Colwyn Bay. Been meaning to get back to Suffolk and see the place for the first time since 2000.

Which of these routes is your preferred/cheapest/most scenic? Looking at taking a long weekend to go there and back so time isn't really a major factor.

Was thinking Colwyn Bay - Birmingham NS - Chiltern Line - London Marylebone - Bury St Edmunds (via a Class 90 hauled service changing at Ipswich)

Sorry to go off topic but I had no idea the answer to a long mulled thought was sat right here!
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
Was thinking of breaking the travel with a shopping break in Birmingham as I walked from New Street to Moore Street.

All these routes are the same as far as Chester, so I will ignore this stretch for scenery (we all know it's lovely :P).

The route you want to go is very nice indeed, and can be done very cheaply with advance tickets. The line from Chester to Birmingham via Wrexham and Shrewsbury is very pretty, with the huge Telford-built viaducts at Ruabon and Chirk, distant views of misty mountains and a nice run past the Wrekin. The Chiltern Mainline is very pretty too. A GA mark 3 is pretty damn rustic, being essentially as built by BR, just with Wifi and some very ugly ONE seat covers, and a number of bizarre colour schemes (see below). I personally love them :P Buy an ATW advance from Colwyn Bay to New Street, a CH advance from Moor Street to Marylebone and then a GA advance from Marylebone to Bury St. Edmunds. Minimum total cost is £8.60+£3.95+£5.30=£17.85. This would be a good route to do, and if I was you it's what I'd do

The outright most scenic route I have done is via the Welsh Marches line and Newport. The Marches line has some truly amazing views of the Shropshire Hills around Church Stretton, and of the Brecon Beacons near Abergavenny. You also get the bonus of a FGW HST between Newport and London.

--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

How about Bangor - Chester - Manchester Piccadilly - Norwich - Sudbury? or you could bail at Ely and go to Bury St Edmunds from there? Depends if you fancy spending 4 and a half hours on a 158

I have considered this before actually, and would be against doing it :P

Adam

 

[ainsworth74]

Is it just me or isn't that GA White suspiciously similar to the NXEC White as seen on the current East Coast HST Mk3s?

 

[SprinterMan]

Is it just me or isn't that GA White suspiciously similar to the NXEC White as seen on the current East Coast HST Mk3s?

It's exactly the same, as it is NXEA colors

Adam

 

[SovietGaz]

Thanks for that Adam. Is that price with or without a 16-25 card? Of which I have.

 

[SprinterMan]

Thanks for that Adam. Is that price with or without a 16-25 card? Of which I have.

That price is without a 16-25 railcard, so will be even cheaper with one
Above post now updated to show railcard prices


--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

All booked via Carlisle

Bangor to Carlisle @ £6.60
Carlisle to Sudbury @ £13.85

A trip home and a scenic railtour of the lake district for £20.45. Not bad at all

Adam